Salwa Kingdom
Encyclopedia
Salwa is a kingdom grouped among the western kingdoms in the epic Mahabharata
. It is close to Madra Kingdom
as both are mentioned together in many places. Saubha is its capital. Martikavati
(alias Matika, Matrika, Matrikavati) also is mentioned as the capital of Salwa kingdom. The famous prince Satyavan was from Salwa. He married the Madra princess, Savitri
, the daughter of Madra king Aswapati. Their history is a famous narration in Mahabharata. Seven chapters 3:291 to 3:297 is dedicated to this history of Satyavan and Savitri.
, known by the name of Vyushitaswa. He was devoted to truth and virtue. Vyushitaswa, who was endued with the strength of ten elephants very soon performed the horse-sacrifice, overthrowing, all the kings of the East, the North, the West and the South, and exacted tributes from them all. The seven children all of whom became kings viz., three Salwas and four Madras were sons of Vyushitaswa. (1:121).
. The Matsyas, the Panchalas, the Salways and the Surasenas were mentioned as not very far away from Kuru Kingdom at (5:54). King Jayadratha
of Sauvira Kingdom
is mentioned as travelling to Salwa Kingdom through Kamyaka woods. (3:262).
The Kauravas
with the Pancalas
, the Salwas, the Matsyas
, the Naimishas, the Koshalas
, the Kasapaundras, the Kalingas
, the Magadhas
, and the Cedis
who are all highly blessed, know what the eternal religion is. (8:45).
princess Savitri
. Section 3:292 describes the history of Dyumatsena:-
There was, amongst the Salwas, a virtuous Kshatriya
king known by the name of Dyumatsena. And it came to pass that in course of time he became blind. And that blind king possessed of wisdom had an only son. And it so happened that an old enemy dwelling in the vicinity, taking advantage of the king’s mishap, deprived him of his kingdom. And thereupon the monarch, accompanied by his wife bearing a child on her breast, went into the woods. His son, born in the city, began to grow in the hermitage. The Brahmanas have named the son Satyavan. In his childhood he took great delight in horses, and used to make horses of clay. And he used also to draw pictures of horses. And for this that youth is sometimes called by the name of Chitraswa. The Madra princess Savitri knew about this prince and fell in love with him. Later she married him. Dyumatsena's minister somehow slew the enemy king and Dyumatesena regained his kingdom.
, a warrior from Kuru Kingdom
, along with her sisters Ambika and Amblika. Bhisma wished to make her the wife of Kuru prince Vichitravirya
, but Amba wished to marry the Salwa king. Bhishma sent her to Salwa but the Salwa king rejected her.
and was killed by Vasudeva Krishna. According to the narration in the epic, he possessed an aircraft known as Saubha Vimana and used it for air travel and for aerial warfare. (See Dwaraka Kingdom
for more details).
king Jarasandha
, have all fled towards the west; so also have the Surasenas, the Bhadrakas, the Vodhas, the Salwas, the Patachchavas, the Susthalas, the Mukuttas, and the Kulindas, along with the Kuntis. And the king of the Salwayana tribe with their brethren and followers; and the southern Panchalas and the eastern Kosalas have all fled to the country of the Kuntis. (2:14).
in Kurukshetra War
(5:161). At (9:20) his final battle against the Pandavas is mentioned. A Salwa king has sided with Pandavas too in the Kurukshetra War
. (7:23) Bhimaratha, (brother of Duryodhana
), with six sharp shafts of great swiftness and made wholly of iron, despatched Salwa along with his steeds and charioteer to Yama
’s abode. Salwakas along with Malavakas
were mentioned as allies of the Pandavas ( 5:57). At (5:30) Salwakas were mentioned as fighting for Kauravas.
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
. It is close to Madra Kingdom
Madra Kingdom
Madra Kingdom was a kingdom grouped among the western kingdoms in the epic Mahabharata. Its capital was Sagala, modern Sialkot . The Kuru king Pandu's second wife was from Madra kingdom and was called Madri. The Pandava twins, Nakula and Sahadeva, were her sons. Madri's brother Shalya was the king...
as both are mentioned together in many places. Saubha is its capital. Martikavati
Martikavati
Martikavati was mentioned as the capital of Salwa Kingdom in the epic Mahabharata. Salwa king who attacked Dwaraka was from Martikavati. The son of Kritavarma was established in the city of Martikavata by king Yudhisthira ....
(alias Matika, Matrika, Matrikavati) also is mentioned as the capital of Salwa kingdom. The famous prince Satyavan was from Salwa. He married the Madra princess, Savitri
Savitri and Satyavan
The oldest known version of the story of Savitri and Satyavan is found in "The Book of the Forest" of the Mahabharata.The story occurs as a multiple embedded narrative in the Mahabharata told by Markandeya...
, the daughter of Madra king Aswapati. Their history is a famous narration in Mahabharata. Seven chapters 3:291 to 3:297 is dedicated to this history of Satyavan and Savitri.
The Common ancestry of Salwas and Madras
There was, in ancient times, a king in the race of PuruPuru
The Purus were a tribe, or a confederation of tribes, mentioned many times in the Rigveda, formed around 3180 BCE. RV 7.96.2 locates them at the banks of the Sarasvati River. There were several factions of Purus, one being the Bharatas...
, known by the name of Vyushitaswa. He was devoted to truth and virtue. Vyushitaswa, who was endued with the strength of ten elephants very soon performed the horse-sacrifice, overthrowing, all the kings of the East, the North, the West and the South, and exacted tributes from them all. The seven children all of whom became kings viz., three Salwas and four Madras were sons of Vyushitaswa. (1:121).
Location of Salwa Kingdom
Salwa kingdom is mentioned very close to Madra kingdom at (6:9) which describe kingdoms of Bharata Varsha. Another kingdom named Salwasena is mentioend close to Trigarta KingdomTrigarta Kingdom
Trigarta was a kingdom mentioned in the epic Mahabharata. Mahabharata mentions two different Trigarta kingdoms, one in the west close to the Sivi Kingdom and the other north to the Kuru Kingdom. Modern Kangra district is one of the ancient town in North Trigarta, India, extending westward to the...
. The Matsyas, the Panchalas, the Salways and the Surasenas were mentioned as not very far away from Kuru Kingdom at (5:54). King Jayadratha
Jayadratha
In the epic Mahābhārata, Jayadratha was the king of Sindhu Kingdom . He was married to Dushala, the only sister of the 100 Kaurava brothers. He was the son of the sinful king Vridhakshtra.- Abduction of Draupadi:...
of Sauvira Kingdom
Sauvira Kingdom
Sauvira was a kingdom mentioned in the epic Mahabharata. According to the epic, Jayadratha was the king of Sindhus, Sauviras and Sivis. Probably Sauvira and Sivi were two kingdoms close to the Sindhu kingdom and Jayadratha conquered them. Jayadratha was an ally of Duryodhana and husband of...
is mentioned as travelling to Salwa Kingdom through Kamyaka woods. (3:262).
Salwa Culture
Salwas were included in the kingdoms that falls in the larger circle of the mainstream culture propounded by the Kurus and PanchalasThe Kauravas
Kuru Kingdom
Kuru was the name of an ancient kingdom in Vedic India, and later a republican Mahajanapada state. The kingdom was located in the area of modern Haryana, Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh in India. They formed the first political center of the of the Vedic India, with its capital at Hastinapur. It...
with the Pancalas
Panchala Kingdom
This article is about the kingdom of Panchala during the epic-ages. For the historical kingdom, see Panchala.Panchala Kingdom extended from Himalayas in the north to river Charmanwati in the south during the period of Mahabharata. It had Kuru, Surasena and Matsya kingdoms to the west and the forest...
, the Salwas, the Matsyas
Matsya Kingdom
Matsya or Machcha , classically called the Mese , was the name of a tribe and the state of the Vedic civilization of India. It lay to south of the kingdom of Kurus and west of the Yamuna which separated it from the kingdom of Panchalas...
, the Naimishas, the Koshalas
Kosala Kingdom
Kosala Proper or Uttara Kosala is the kingdom of the celebrated personality of Treta Yuga, Raghava Rama. Ayodhya was its capital, presently in Faizabad district, Uttar Pradesh. Rama's sons Lava and Kusha inherited parts of this kingdom. Lava ruled from the city called Sravasti and Kusa from the...
, the Kasapaundras, the Kalingas
Kalinga Kingdom
Kalinga forms the sea shore of Orissa and Andhra region of Andhra pradesh state in India. Kuru king Duryodhana's wife was from Kalinga. Kalingas sided with Duryodhana in the Kurukshetra War...
, the Magadhas
Magadha Kingdom
Magadha was a kingdom ruled by non-Vedic kings. Jarasandha was the greatest among them during epic times. His capital was Rajagriha or Rajgir a modern hill resort in Bihar. Jarasandha's continuous assault on the Yadava kingdom of Surasena resulted in their withdrawal from central India to western...
, and the Cedis
Chedi Kingdom
Chedi kingdom was one among the many kingdoms ruled during early periods by Paurava kings and later by Yaduvanshi Rajput kings in the central and western India. It falls roughly in the Bundelkhand division of Madhya Pradesh regions to the south of river Yamuna and along river Betwa or Vetravati...
who are all highly blessed, know what the eternal religion is. (8:45).
King Dyumatsena of Salwa
Dyumantsena was the father of Satyavan, the famous prince who wedded the MadraMadra Kingdom
Madra Kingdom was a kingdom grouped among the western kingdoms in the epic Mahabharata. Its capital was Sagala, modern Sialkot . The Kuru king Pandu's second wife was from Madra kingdom and was called Madri. The Pandava twins, Nakula and Sahadeva, were her sons. Madri's brother Shalya was the king...
princess Savitri
Savitri and Satyavan
The oldest known version of the story of Savitri and Satyavan is found in "The Book of the Forest" of the Mahabharata.The story occurs as a multiple embedded narrative in the Mahabharata told by Markandeya...
. Section 3:292 describes the history of Dyumatsena:-
There was, amongst the Salwas, a virtuous Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
king known by the name of Dyumatsena. And it came to pass that in course of time he became blind. And that blind king possessed of wisdom had an only son. And it so happened that an old enemy dwelling in the vicinity, taking advantage of the king’s mishap, deprived him of his kingdom. And thereupon the monarch, accompanied by his wife bearing a child on her breast, went into the woods. His son, born in the city, began to grow in the hermitage. The Brahmanas have named the son Satyavan. In his childhood he took great delight in horses, and used to make horses of clay. And he used also to draw pictures of horses. And for this that youth is sometimes called by the name of Chitraswa. The Madra princess Savitri knew about this prince and fell in love with him. Later she married him. Dyumatsena's minister somehow slew the enemy king and Dyumatesena regained his kingdom.
Salwa king contemporary to Bhisma
A Salwa king (5:179) was mentioned as a lover of Amba, the eldest princess of Kasi Kingdom, who was abducted by BhishmaBhishma
Bhishma or Bheeshma or Devavrata or 'Bhishma Pitamah' was the eighth son of Kuru King Shantanu who was blessed with wish-long life and had sworn to serve the ruling Kuru king. He was one of the most prominent characters of the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata. He was the grand uncle of both the...
, a warrior from Kuru Kingdom
Kuru Kingdom
Kuru was the name of an ancient kingdom in Vedic India, and later a republican Mahajanapada state. The kingdom was located in the area of modern Haryana, Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh in India. They formed the first political center of the of the Vedic India, with its capital at Hastinapur. It...
, along with her sisters Ambika and Amblika. Bhisma wished to make her the wife of Kuru prince Vichitravirya
Vichitravirya
Vichitravirya in the Hindu epic Mahabharata is the younger son of queen Satyavatī and king Śaṅtanu. His elder brother, Chitrāngada, had initially succeeded their father to the throne of Hastinapura, but when he died childless, Vichitravirya succeeded him.Vichitravirya was still a child when he was...
, but Amba wished to marry the Salwa king. Bhishma sent her to Salwa but the Salwa king rejected her.
Salwa king contemporary to Krishna
Yet another Salwa king (3:12, 7:11) attacked DwarakaDwaraka Kingdom
In the Mahabharata, Dvārakā is the capital of the Yadus who ruled the Anarta Kingdom....
and was killed by Vasudeva Krishna. According to the narration in the epic, he possessed an aircraft known as Saubha Vimana and used it for air travel and for aerial warfare. (See Dwaraka Kingdom
Dwaraka Kingdom
In the Mahabharata, Dvārakā is the capital of the Yadus who ruled the Anarta Kingdom....
for more details).
Impact of Magadha over Salwa
The eighteen tribes of the Bhojas, from fear of MagadhaMagadha Kingdom
Magadha was a kingdom ruled by non-Vedic kings. Jarasandha was the greatest among them during epic times. His capital was Rajagriha or Rajgir a modern hill resort in Bihar. Jarasandha's continuous assault on the Yadava kingdom of Surasena resulted in their withdrawal from central India to western...
king Jarasandha
Jarasandha
Jarasandha was a great and legendary king of Magadha. He was the son of a vedic king named Brihadratha. He was also a great devotee of Lord Shiva. But he is generally held in negative light owing to his enmity with the Yadav clan in the Mahābhārata....
, have all fled towards the west; so also have the Surasenas, the Bhadrakas, the Vodhas, the Salwas, the Patachchavas, the Susthalas, the Mukuttas, and the Kulindas, along with the Kuntis. And the king of the Salwayana tribe with their brethren and followers; and the southern Panchalas and the eastern Kosalas have all fled to the country of the Kuntis. (2:14).
Salwas in Kurukshetra War
A Salwa king allied with DuryodhanaDuryodhana
In the Hindu epic the Mahābhārata, Duryodhana is the eldest son of the blind king Dhritarashtra by Queen Gandhari, the eldest of the one hundred Kaurava brothers, Emperor of the world at that time which means Emperor of India or Bharatvarsha as it was known at that time, cousin and the chief...
in Kurukshetra War
Kurukshetra war
According to the Indian epic poem Mahābhārata, a dynastic succession struggle between two groups of cousins of an Indo-Aryan kingdom called Kuru, the Kauravas and Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura resulted in the Kurukshetra War in which a number of ancient kingdoms participated as allies of...
(5:161). At (9:20) his final battle against the Pandavas is mentioned. A Salwa king has sided with Pandavas too in the Kurukshetra War
Kurukshetra war
According to the Indian epic poem Mahābhārata, a dynastic succession struggle between two groups of cousins of an Indo-Aryan kingdom called Kuru, the Kauravas and Pandavas, for the throne of Hastinapura resulted in the Kurukshetra War in which a number of ancient kingdoms participated as allies of...
. (7:23) Bhimaratha, (brother of Duryodhana
Duryodhana
In the Hindu epic the Mahābhārata, Duryodhana is the eldest son of the blind king Dhritarashtra by Queen Gandhari, the eldest of the one hundred Kaurava brothers, Emperor of the world at that time which means Emperor of India or Bharatvarsha as it was known at that time, cousin and the chief...
), with six sharp shafts of great swiftness and made wholly of iron, despatched Salwa along with his steeds and charioteer to Yama
Yama
Yama , also known as Yamarāja in India and Nepal, Shinje in Tibet, Yanluowang or simply Yan in China, Yeomla Daewang in South Korea and Enma Dai-Ō in Japan, is the lord of death, in Hinduism and then adopted into Buddhism and then further into Chinese mythology and Japanese mythology. First...
’s abode. Salwakas along with Malavakas
Malava Kingdom
Malava kingdom was one among the many kingdoms ruled by the Yadava kings in the central and western India, corresponding to the Malwa region. Sometimes Avanti and Malava were described to be the same country. They were originally a western tribe, in Punjab province of Pakistan. Later they migrated...
were mentioned as allies of the Pandavas ( 5:57). At (5:30) Salwakas were mentioned as fighting for Kauravas.
Other References
- Son of Salwa is mentioned as present in the self choice ceremony at Panchala KingdomPanchala KingdomThis article is about the kingdom of Panchala during the epic-ages. For the historical kingdom, see Panchala.Panchala Kingdom extended from Himalayas in the north to river Charmanwati in the south during the period of Mahabharata. It had Kuru, Surasena and Matsya kingdoms to the west and the forest...
. (5:4) - The Salwa prince Dyutimat of great splendour attained to the highest regions by giving his kingdom to Richika. (13:137) (12,233).